


A.I.

by mldrgrl



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Established Romance, F/M, Humor, Rm9sbG93ZXJz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 01:38:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13893507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mldrgrl/pseuds/mldrgrl
Summary: My attempt at trying to make Rm9sbG93ZXJz remotely canon-like.





	A.I.

They had two minutes left, according to clock on her phone.  She put it down on the diner counter and took Mulder’s hand.  He looked at her and smiled, twisting their fingers together.  She swiveled towards him and then tipped her head closer, closer, closer, until she rested against his shoulder.  He put his phone down as well and she waited, not sure what would happen when the time was up.

 

Her screen went dark, clicked off suddenly so that her view was just black.  She tentatively reached up to pull the helmet off and blinked rapidly, though the room was dim.  She needed a moment to adjust back to reality.  She rolled her head to the side and looked at Mulder, who was just removing his helmet as well.

 

“Wow,” he said.  “Pretty cool, right?”

 

Scully shrugged.  “Sure.” 

 

“Damn, you’re a hard woman to please,” he answered.

 

“I’m actually quite easy to please, Mulder.”

 

“With the right little pink gadget?”

 

“Did you pick that out?”

 

“Hell no!  I spent all the virtual cash on overpriced sushi.”

 

“Guess it came with the house.”

 

“I didn’t know you were going to splurge on a Smarthome.”

 

Scully’s cheeks darkened just a bit at the extravagant way she went about setting up her virtual world.  “It came with a koi pond,” she said, shrugging one shoulder.

 

The recliner chairs they were both laid back in began to slowly move them up to sit.  Scully held the helmet to her lap and Mulder scratched the back of his head.  The lights in the room rose to normal and the doors opened.  

 

“Shall we?” he asked.

 

Scully got up first and set her helmet into the stand next to her chair.  She waited as Mulder did the same and he put his hand on her lower back to guide her out the door.  He slid his hand up her back and briefly rubbed the ends of her hair between his fingers.

 

“What made you decide to go short?” he asked.

 

“Been thinking about cutting it lately,” she answered.  “You didn’t like it?”

 

“I liked it.  Took me back 20 years.”  He smiled and brought his hand down to the small of her back again.

 

They exited a short hall into a reception room where a skinny young man with a closely clipped beard and long, dishwater blonde hair pulled into a bun stood behind a tall, round table centered under a skylight.  He held an iPad which he placed on the table as Mulder and Scully approached.

 

“Congratulations,” the man said.  “It took you 43 minutes and six seconds to conquer Robot Attack.”

 

“Is that good or bad?” Scully asked.

 

“You rank 4 out of 181,” he answered.

 

“Only four?” Mulder griped, narrowing his eyes.  “Where did we lose points?”

 

“Your scorecard is available immediately.”  The young man tapped his index finger on the iPad a few times and an animated score card appeared on the screen.  “For an additional $29.99, we can email you a link to the video of your game play for download.”

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna need that video,” Mulder said, pulling out his wallet to get his credit card.

 

“I knew I shouldn’t have gotten in that car,” Scully grumbled, pointing at a number in the negative column.

 

Mulder clicked on the number and it opened up a tally of negative points.  He raised his brows a little.  “I don’t think it was so much getting in the car as it was abusing the emoji.  Hashtag road rage.”  

 

Scully pushed his hand away and swiped over to the next screen.  “You’re one to talk,” she said.  “Looks like we lost most our points while you sat around waiting for customer service.”

 

Mulder put his hands up in defense.  “Listening to hold music and trying to navigate automated menus can make anyone feel personally attacked.  I thought it was part of the uprising.  Obviously my patience paid off in the end because 500 mini-drones showed up at my place and chased me into your realm of the A.I.”

 

“We could’ve had a much better time and score if you’d just tipped the damn robot waiter in the first place.”

 

“Well where’s the fun in that?”

 

“If you’d like to purchase any of the products featured in your game, you’ll receive a 10% discount if you make your purchase today in our app,” the young man behind the counter said, urging them along.  He cleared their scorecard from the screen and brought up a page of electronic devices for sale.

 

“Anything you might want?” Mulder asked.  “New pedometer, perhaps?”

 

“Hm.”  Scully scrolled slowly through the phones and flat screens and security cameras, stopping when the an item under  **Small Household Electronics** caught her eye.  She took her time to look contemplative, tapping a fingernail against her tooth.  

 

“Whatever you want, my treat,” Mulder said.  

“I’m not sure,” she said, leaning against the counter on her elbow.  She bounced her head back and forth in consideration.  “I didn’t really get enough time with it to really explore all it could do.”

 

“Well, if what we have at home isn’t currently doing the trick for you for some reason, I’m open to exploring new options.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Of course.”  Mulder bumped his hip against hers and grinned.  “I hear those little Roomba things are fantastic!”

 

Scully laughed and shook her head.  She wrapped her arms around Mulder’s waist and buried her head against his chest to stifle her laughter.  

 

Mulder handed over his credit card to the kid behind the counter.  “Just the video,” he said.

 

“Great, go ahead and sign here and enter your email address on the next screen.  A copy of your receipt will also be in your email.”

 

Mulder signed the screen with his finger and entered his email address, one arm wrapped around Scully the whole time.  He squeezed her waist when he was done and she turned out of his grasp.  He took her hand as they made their way to the exit and tugged her back a little, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

 

“I don’t care how great the discount is,” he said.  “We’re not getting you a new vibrator from a virtual reality gaming center.”

 

“Don’t worry,” she answered, giving his hand a squeeze.  “What I have at home does the trick just fine.”

 

Mulder grinned and slipped his sunglasses on as they walked outside.  “Should we grab dinner before heading back?”

 

“What do you feel like?”

 

“No sushi!” they said at the same time, and laughed as they headed to her car.

 

The End

  
  



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